Base Station Antenna Array Design with Characteristic Mode Analysis

This paper revisits the history of Characteristic Mode Analysis (CMA) and describes thereby the fundamental differences between the antenna element design for handheld terminals and array applications, such as base station antenna design. With this knowledge in mind, open research topics are highlighted. A mutual coupling investigation with CMA is performed on a typical multiband array arrangement, to show the influence of mutual coupling on the individual array modes, respectively the modal significance.